Facebook lawsuit reply filed

The comments were posted in the heat of Spring Hill's mayoral election.

The comments were posted in the heat of Spring Hill’s mayoral election.

Residents were excited, discussing candidate’s platforms and money donated to their campaigns. And in the midst of the Facebook threads, a Thompson’s Station resident called Donnie Cameron a criminal.

The posts sparked a lawsuit from the Franklin-based developer, who filed documents with the Williamson County Chancery Court on May 1, asking for $250,000 in damages in response to statements Beth York wrote about him on the “I Heart Spring Hill” Facebook page.

In the lawsuit, Cameron claims York’s posts on the page caused harm to his business — Cameron Properties — and reputation. He is suing her for defamation and libel, tortious interference with business relations and false light invasion of privacy.

Now, York has responded to the claims, denying that the posts defamed Cameron and asking that the case be dismissed for “failure to state a claim.”

She did not address the factuality of her Facebook comments in the response, which was filed July 8 by her attorney, Patrick Barrett. But she previously defended the posts by writing, “There is concrete evidence on Cameron and I’m not assuming anything when I post info on him,” according to court documents.

Barrett said Monday he could not comment on the case because of a gag order issued by Williamson County Judge Timothy Easter. Easter originally issued the order on May 1, which prevents parties from both sides from speaking about the case and required York to take down the posts mentioned in the lawsuit.

Barrett and York could have argued against the restraining order at a May 20 initial hearing, but the defendant agreed to keep the order in place, a Williamson County Chancery Court employee said.

The Facebook comments cited in the lawsuit were made between March 14 and April 4, shortly before the Spring Hill mayoral election.

Cameron said in the lawsuit that the comments have no backing. But The Tennessean recently reported the developer has a criminal history that stretches back to 1991 and was disassociated from the University of Tennessee — both allegations York made in Facebook comments cited in court documents.

According to the Nashville newspaper, court records show Cameron pleaded guilty to illegal gambling — relating to video poker machines he owned — in 1991. He was convicted in federal court and sentenced to 10 months split between federal prison and a halfway house, The Tennessean reported.

Information on the Federal Bureau of Prisons website indicates a Don R. Cameron III was released from prison on Nov. 2, 1992.

About 15 years later, in Nov. 2005, University of Tennessee officials disassociated Cameron from the university for two years for improperly contacting UT men’s basketball signee Tyler Smith, according to The Tennessean.

In addition to her comments concerning Cameron, York was also called out by Spring Hill Planning Commission member Jonathan Schwartz for making what he said were offensive comments on the page. Schwartz resigned from his position March 18 after city officials did not take action on the comments, but he rejoined the commission at its April 8 meeting and continues to act as chair.

Schwartz also works as a client services manager at Tull Law Firm, which is handling Cameron’s case, and said Monday he could not comment.